


Trick or Treat

by Zerrat



Category: Final Fantasy II
Genre: Community: ff_land, Fear, Gen, Treasure Hunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-29
Updated: 2011-12-29
Packaged: 2017-10-28 10:29:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/306927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerrat/pseuds/Zerrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Treasure chests are like a box of chocolates, in Final Fantasy II. You never know what you’re going to get – monsters so heinous they’ll strip the flesh from your bones, or treasure beyond imagination. It’s enough to give a guy a complex!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trick or Treat

It had all started out pretty nicely, Firion remembered, a few beads of sweat starting at his brow. He, Guy and Maria had found the Wild Rose Rebellion, had joined forces with Princess Hilda, and it had all been the start of a grand adventure. It hadn’t been easy, but as they’d stopped in the glittering halls of Castle Pandaemonium, not even during Fynn’s initial invasion, had he felt the sheer amount of apprehension that he did now.

The source of his anxiety was sitting in the corner of one of the convoluted hallways. It was always so innocent, Firion mentally grumbled as he stared at it. From the outside, it always looked just like a treasure chest. But on the inside? You could just never _tell._

It was enough to drive a guy crazy with worry, even one as passionate and fierce as Firion. In opening the treasure chest, would they find rewards beyond imagining – like the heroes of legends, that Firion had always wished to be like – or would they be once again risking their lives against heinous monsters that were, to be perfectly honest, way above their level?

He was getting a complex about all this stuff.

Scratching his scruffy silver hair, Firion jerked as he remembered that Maria had said something to him. What had it been? Oh, yeah.

 _“Hurry up and open it,”_ Maria had told him.

“Well…” Firion murmured, as he eyed the innocent-looking chest of could-be-treasure. If he was going to be honest, he had a really bad feeling about this one… “I say we keep moving. The Emperor isn’t going to defeat himself, after all. Best we not distract ourselves with trivialities.”

Maria raised her eyebrow at him.

“Just ignore it?” she asked, her voice sounding entirely too sweet. That was also something that gave Firion a bad feeling. “Firion, in a place like Hell’s palace? It could be some amazing treasure! It could be more Blood weaponry!”

“It could also be another one of the Emperor’s demons,” Firion reminded her. “A remnant from Hell.”

Leon – if Leon were here, instead of going off with Guy, he would have backed Firion’s caution. He’d have thought that self-preservation would have been more important than idle curiosity. Leon always made sure he’d survive whatever the world threw at him.

It was a strange day indeed, when Firion found himself agreeing with his adoptive brother’s methods.

His attention turned back to the treasure chest, and he felt the anxiety grow in the pit of his stomach. So many chests, so many monsters… From the expression on Maria’s face, though, she was having none of his half-hearted excuses.

“I can’t believe you’re actually going to be a bigger girl about this then _me._ Where’s my brave brother?” Maria teased him, though she was fighting not to smile. “Look, if you’re going to be too chocobo to open it, I’ll do it.”

Firion frowned at her, unsure of why she’d offer to do so. The monsters, if they were strong enough, could snap her like a twig. Worse, she was the only one with the Life spell on her…

“Fine. I’ll open it,” Firion growled finally, his frustration spiking. “But if there’s a monster in there, I’m not going to let you forget it.”

Firion approached the chest slowly, the sweat that had beaded at his brow running down his cheek now. His armour and bandana felt too heavy, too tight, too _hot_ now, and every step he took towards the chest seemed to make him feel a whole lot worse. He didn’t want to do this, Firion’s mind screamed at him as he took another few steps. This was the last thing he needed, to be mauled by a monster at the very end, when the goal was so _close…_

A wave of nausea hit Firion as he stopped short of the treasure chest. He swallowed the sensation thickly, and he bent stiffly at the chest. The aged wood and rusted metal were cool to the touch, even if his palms were suddenly slippery. Firion frowned. His reactions were getting worse – maybe he really was getting a phobia of these things…

Firion could feel his heart pounding in his ears as his shaking fingers fumbled at the old latch.

 _Here goes nothing,_ he thought firmly, even as the pit of his stomach seemed to fill with lead and drop somewhere into Hell. The wood groaned, the rusty hinges screeched, and for half a moment, Firion froze, fearing that he’d unleashed a demon onto himself once more. Idle curiosity, Firion thought savagely. Why?

But there was no monster to flay the skin from his back, no demon to strip the flesh from his bones. Cushioned at the bottom of the chest, on a pillow of the finest black silk, was…

“A potion,” Firion finally said to Maria, as she craned to look over his shoulder. Firion sank to his knees, as his strength fled him. No treasure, no weaponry, _nothing_ they could even use! Just a low-level, and probably out-of-date _potion._ It hardly made all the stress worthwhile!

“Well, what do you know,” Maria murmured, reaching over to snag the potion by the bottleneck and stowing it safely in her pack. Firion bit back his first retort, settling for frowning at the chest’s interior again. A potion? What was next? Five gil? A chocobo feather?

There was a shout in the distance, and the sound of boots pounding over stone. Firion and Maria looked up in time to see their brother, Leon, arrive in their hallway. The former Dark Knight’s eyes looked worried. Firion’s stomach clenched again. Oh no…

“Guy’s found another chest,” Leon told them, sounding a little breathless from his run, as he motioned for them to follow him. “Who knows, we might need the backup.”

Firion just groaned and allowed Maria to help him to his feet.

Maybe there was a god, Firion thought with a sigh as they followed Leon through the glittering halls of Castle Pandaemonium. If there was, it was god with a sense of cruel amusement, indeed.


End file.
